Weathering the Storm
Trip Start
Jun 16, 2012
1
27
39
Trip End
Ongoing
Solomons, Maryland
Friday, October 26, 2012
Note: the embedded pictures are videos... click them to see the motion picture!
We left Tracy's Landing, MD where our boat was in land storage on Friday, Oct 26 - just ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. We had a delightful day-trip south to Solomon's Island with our friends Roy and Dianne, with whom we stayed for the last 5 weeks while we prepared Wabi Sabi for the trip south.
We tied our boat to the Johnson's Dock (thank you Dick and Marjorie!) using several extra lines and improvised anti-chafe gear (spare hose). We tied ourselves up laterally across 4 slips, about 10 feet from the dock. We needed to use our dingy to get to shore while the weather was still good; late Saturday we deflated it and tied it to the deck. We spent the entire day on Saturday removing anything on deck or in the rigging that would create additional windage and/or was not securely attached.
We are now in our 3rd day aboard ship, having emerged only to walk around the deck and check the lines during the storm. Everything held up well. The Storm made landfall yesterday evening about 200 miles Northeast of our position. It has been raining since Sunday morning. The peak wind gusts occurred at about 1:00 am on Tuesday Morning (about 7 hours ago) and woke me up. It lasted for about 2 minutes and felt far stronger than anything we had felt up to that time. My guess is that it was our one encounter with winds of hurricane-force (over 75 miles per hour). I got up to check the weather reports again (we never lost our internet connection throughout the storm) and then went back to bed when things calmed down to the “normal” tropical storm force winds.
We slept like babies through most of it. Sustained winds here were only 35-40 mph with gusts to the mid-50s. Wabi Sabi is a very heavy boat and seldom healed over more than a few degrees. It's nice to have 10,000 lbs of lead acting as a counterweight beneath you when the wind is blowing that strongly. The lines held and there is no visible damage within our field of view. We are still stuck aboard until it stops raining... neither of us want to go out in the cold drizzle and since we are now on “island time” there is no hurry to get going.
As we see the devastation to the north of us we are grateful for our good fortune. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have suffered loss and who may be without power for days to come.
Although we may have been more “at risk” during the storm, we are now much better off than most people in the region. We have 450 amp hours of batteries, an engine to charge them, 6 months worth of food, 100 gallons of water, a propane heater and stove with fuel to run them for weeks, dozens of books and games, internet, and each other's company.
From our cozy Hobbit-hole,
Ruth and Pierce
Comments
Hi,
So glad to see you are fine and that Wabi Sabi made it through the hurricane with no damage. Last year Irene caused a lot of damage to our area, but Sandy was much gentler...for us. We were lucky to not be part of the Frankenstorm. If you get near Oriental or Beaufort, NC on your travels send us an email. We'd love to see you. Kathryn and Enrique
SO glad you slept and had peace last night. We love you both!! Safe travels dear friends <3
Didn't know where you were but glad to hear the report. Also glad you had no damage. Take care and keep in touch.